The Story of Alex: XANA Reborn
by Jeremi963
Summary: Sequel to The Story of Alex. Years after XANA's destruction, new forces align giving XANA everything he needs to make a return. XANA's back, but this time, he's not looking for domination: he only wants revenge.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 **(Alex first person)**

Many would ask how this started. What is the beginning? After all, XANA had been defeated for six years now. He was gone, for good this time. So what happened? Where did it all go wrong?

It could be easy to say our story was over. We had defeated XANA, but a story is not finished from the conquering of a conflict, but it needs a happy ending first – a happily-ever-after.

The computer did not stay off forever, of course. It all started our senior year when Jeremie was doing some 3D modeling for his robot to compete in that year's robo-wars. Next it was Odd who needed it, when student loans his freshman year of college weren't cutting it, and he needed some extra money.

Then it was a spiral, and it would continuously be turned on and off, until, eventually, we just left it on. I got used to the adverse effects turning off the computer had on my body, just losing my breath eventually.

I suppose I should start with the major life events since then, now.

We had all gone on to different colleges, and, though our homes were miles and miles away from each other, we still met up every break, right back at the lab.

Jeremie had found a way to spawn monsters, giving us the opportunity to use Lyoko like a playground, a way to get our minds off of the stresses of college.

Jeremie, Aelita, Crystal, and I had all gone to the same college in France, near Jeremie's home a couple of hours from our previous school. Aelita and I had informed Jeremie's mother that our parents were not busy people, but we were, in fact, orphaned, and so she accepted us with tears in her eyes like the children she'd never had.

Ulrich and Yumi had chosen their college together in Germany. Odd followed their lead.

Peter and Angel also chose the same college. William, who had had no college plans, decided he'd rather be with friends, no matter what, and went with them.

Yumi was right, forever ago, now. There really was nothing that would stop us from being friends.

Junior year of college, Odd crossed paths with Samantha Knight again, and, convinced that it was destiny, married her just a few months later with Ulrich as his best man. Of course, we couldn't hide the computer from Odd's new bride. This newfound secret life of Odd's seemed somehow romantic for Samantha, and the two of them fell deeper in love.

I suppose I should get this out of the way now. Samantha had an interesting property while on Lyoko. She was dressed in full black, and her only attack was three inch spikes that extended from both hands and two inch spikes that extended from the front and back of her feet, making her essentially useless from a distance, but what was unique was her ability to phase. Lasers would pass right through her so long as she consciously thought about it, but she would also phase through enemies while doing so, meaning she could not both phase and attack, simultaneously.

It was Jeremie's idea. After college, all of us lived with our parents for a year, saving up as much money as possible. Then we bought the factory. This was not difficult, as the land and building were cheap from being abandoned so long, plus given that Jeremie and I were both Engineers. All of our money put together, plus a little from the computer, was enough to buy our little island and remodel it into a brilliant house. Two immaculate floors, living rooms the size of homes in their own right, enough bedrooms so if every couple had two children, every room would still not be occupied, and behind an eight foot portrait of everyone in the living room, the old elevator that went down to the lab. Aelita and Crystal essentially forced Jeremie and I to straighten up the old lab, fixing the wires to where they no longer hung from the ceiling, and straightening the scanner room so that cords and things weren't strung everywhere.

The top floor that the bridge led into was turned into a garage, or, at least, a good portion of it. At the other end of the bridge was a large gate and the bridge was made to be raised.

Then we worked together as a family. We earned money together, invested money together, and we became rich, or, at least, it certainly felt that way. We had anything we could've wanted: Cars, electronics, VIP treatment. None of us were, or are now, I suppose, rich on our own, but with the money we made together, we felt untouchable.

Was that why this happened? Was our arrogance our downfall?

I suppose I'm getting off track. Let me continue.

We kept using the computer, and still will, once all this gets sorted out. It's too glorious in nature.

That's not what caused this, though. I don't want you to think we brought this upon ourselves. There was nothing we could have done to avoid this.

Or maybe there was.

Either way, there's no sense in mulling over our options now.

But that is not the happy ending, just another development towards a higher conflict, a rising action towards a greater evil.

Let's start from the beginning.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **(Alex first person)**

Crystal and I awoke in our room on the first floor. We looked at each other and smiled. It was a day like any other day.

One lived in blissful ignorance of what was to come.

We got dressed and went to the kitchen. Jeremie and Aelita were standing side by side in their pajamas humming a tune as they prepared breakfast. I poured Crystal and myself a drink and walked to the dining room. Samantha smiled politely as we entered. Odd, in a sleep deprived state with bags under his eyes, held a fork and knife staring blankly ahead. Ulrich had one arm around Yumi as she leaned against him, waking up steadily.

Peter and Angel passed through the kitchen into the dining room next, followed soon by William.

Jeremie and Aelita soon came into the kitchen with several serving dishes: Biscuits, sausage, bacon, and eggs.

Every morning had been this way. We cycled through whose turn it was to make breakfast. Sometimes, it would just be all the cereal boxes sat out on the counter. We never complained, though. We were content.

We had each other.

Jeremie and Aelita smiled at the table. Jeremie said grace and we began eating.

It's crazy to think they'd become such mature adults. It seems like just yesterday a bunch of kids were running through the sewers for the sake of exploration and adventure.

Perhaps we still weren't so different. Even in a vile world, we still saw a glimpse of good.

Jeremie cleaned food out of his neatly trimmed goatee and began talking money, about the stocks, various budgets, incomes, et cetera, not that we paid much attention. We knew the money was more than balanced and no reasonable amount of extra expenditure would set us back.

The business meeting finished and we went to play.

Jeremie stood from the table and led the way though the living room, opened the portrait, and went to Lyoko.

We could play in that world for hours. Jeremie would give us a mission like the good old days.

Jeremie congratulated us on another successful mission and devirtualized us.

"Good job, guys, Jeremie said as we reached the control room. "Another day saved." He joined us in the elevator and we took it up.

"Piece of cake, Einstein," Odd commented.

"Yeah, Jeremie," Ulrich said. "You keep trying that trick with the Hornets under the landscape. We know where to look now, and they're not surprising us."

"Well, I guess I'll just have to switch things up next time."

Punctuating Jeremie's sentence, glass was heard breaking on the top floor. We all looked at the floor above us.

"What do you think that was?" Peter asked.

"I'm not sure," I said. I teleported to my bedroom and grabbed a handgun out of my nightstand, then teleported back to the living room. I walked up the staircase to the top hall, then walked slowly, checking the windows in each bedroom and looking for anything that may have fallen from a shelf or something. I opened the door at the end of the hall leading to the garage.

Above the main part of the garage, one of the panes of glass was shattered, and on one of the cars, my Lotus, the windshield was also shattered. I opened the door, and, inside, a brick sat in the passenger seat. I picked it up and teleported back to the living room.

"What's that?" William asked. I turned it over in my hand.

"A brick. Someone has scratched something into it. It says, 'They're watching you'." Everyone took turns glancing at each other and a few at the brick.

"Who are they?" Yumi asked.

"I'm not sure. Jeremie, go start a return to the past. It doesn't have to be far." Jeremie rushed to the elevator and took it down.

Fifteen minutes earlier, I teleported up from the scanner room into the garage and sat against Ulrich's Mustang.

Fifteen minutes later, I checked my watch, looked around, expecting any minute now for a brick to come shatter my car's windshield, but nothing. I waited a couple more minutes, but still received nothing. I walked outside to the bridge and looked around – nobody in sight – then to the ground. A brick was neatly placed a foot or so in front of the door. I looked up again and saw that the gate to the bridge was still closed tight. I picked the brick up, this one scratched on two sides instead of one.

"They're still watching you," read one side. "They can see you, Alex," read the other. I dropped the brick and stepped back to the door, looking around the sidewalk on the edge of the city, yet, even with as far as I could see, there were still no signs of life.

I slid the brick into the garage with my foot, then teleported to the lab. No one else was here, probably upstairs waiting for me. I opened a video chat and called Charlie. A few moments passed, then he answered.

"Hey, Alex," he said. "Is something wrong? There was a return to the past. You never do those anymore."

"I know," I said. "I'm sorry. Something happened at the house, and we had to check something. Where are you?"

"At home, why?" I paused.

"I'm not sure. A brick was thrown into the house. It said 'They're watching you'. I was pretty sure it was just some stupid kids playing pranks, but after the return to the past the brick didn't come through the window. Instead it was just sitting at the garage door with some creepier stuff on it. I'm not sure what's going on."

"What did the brick say?"

"'They're still watching you. They can see you, Alex'."

"Everyone who's been exposed to the return to the past was in the house, right?"

"That's right. It should've happened again."

"That's strange. Is there anything I can do?"

"Not right now, Charlie. I'll let you know if anything comes up."

"Take care, Alex." I hung up and teleported back to the living room.

"What happened? We didn't hear the glass break," Aelita said.

"I'm not sure. The brick was sitting in front of the door. It said something different too."

"What does this mean?" William asked.

"Either the return to the past didn't work, or whoever is doing this is immune to it like the rest of us."

"How would that happen?" Angel asked.

"Yeah," Peter said. "The only other person than us is that Laura girl, and Jeremie took care of that."

"And Jeremie's dad, right?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, but I just got off the phone with him. He's at his house several hours from here."

Jeremie picked up his laptop from the coffee table and opened the cameras. We crowded around behind him. He reversed the camera to when the return to the past hit and played. At the same time the first brick came through the window, the camera fizzed out and didn't come on for two minutes, but when it came back on, the brick was sitting clean on the ground.

"Another return to the-" Aelita said, but her voice was cut off by more glass breaking overhead. Jeremie quickly fast forwarded the camera, but all that could be seen was the brick flying through the air, faster than even I could throw with my hands, all the way from the city, too far to be seen by the camera.

I teleported to the garage and opened my car door to pull out another brick.

'Stop trying to call help'

'They're listening'

I threw the brick at the garage door, leaving a large dent in it. I teleported back to the lab and started another return to the past.

I teleported outside and waited.

This time there was no brick thrown. No brick delivered. No sign of a marauder. I walked to the other end of the bridge and looked around. The guard shack was locked with no brick inside. I opened the gate and walked out.

Laying in the grass next to the guard shack was another brick.

'I thought of that'

'Never forget 6-6-94-2546'

What was that even supposed to mean? Was it a combination lock? With a combination past two thousand? That's ridiculous. A date? But what kind of date uses four digits, once again, with a number past two thousand. Mathematics doesn't seem to come to any clues either. I couldn't come up with any algorithms that would put all those numbers together. In a bout of rage I threw the brick into the river and teleported back into the living room.

"What did you find?" Crystal asked.

"'Never forget 6-6-94-2546'."

"What does it mean?" Jeremie asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine." I sat on the couch with my head in my hands.

"Should we call the police?" Sam asked.

"No, no calling for help. They said someone's listening to us."

"Who are they, and how do we know we can trust them?" Yumi asked.

"Yeah," Ulrich said. "So far all we know is this person is throwing bricks through our window."

"They know who I am, I think it's safe to assume they know who all of us are."

"If they're immune to the return to the past, maybe they're close to us?" Odd suggested.

"No way," Jeremie interjected. "Everyone who's been to Lyoko is in this room with us."

"Maybe they have access to a similar super computer? Like with Professor Tyron's computer?" Crystal said.

"As far as we know, Tyron's computer was never able to link to our return to the past."

"And if someone else was able to?" Aelita asked.

"That's impossible. Not without XANA's help," Jeremie said. Everyone looked around the room at each other, all trying to figure out how they should react based on every other person's facial expression. "Stop being ridiculous. XANA is dead. Absolutely dead. Undeniably dead. Not up for debate."

"That seems like exactly the kind of thing you said last time XANA came back from the dead," Ulrich said.

"It's not the same. XANA was only being sustained by Tyron's computer. When his hard drive was wiped and we cleared the codes out of you guys, everything left of him was destroyed. It's not questionable." The room seemed to accept Jeremie's explanation with his authority, but was still apprehensive, perhaps just because people were talking about a threat of XANA again and not because they felt they had a reason to be afraid.

Not to say any of us did have a reason to be afraid of XANA. Right now, the only real enemy was the person throwing bricks at our house. We had no reason to honestly suspect another entity involved, whether it be XANA or some suspect third party that the brick thrower was trying to warn us of. Though, of course, we couldn't call the police for fear that the brick thrower was correct, but it also made us anxious to think the brick thrower was lying, and that he was the stalker instead. We could trust no one, but trusting no one meant suspecting the brick thrower was against us, and that seemed worse than the unknown.

"So what do we do?" Sam said after a momentary pause.

I shook my head and looked at Jeremie, hoping he had some idea of what should happen next, but he looked back at me, then shook his head, looking away.

"I'm not sure," I said. I hated being unsure, but, even more, I hated Jeremie being unsure. All of his answers were usually calculated and immediate. His decisions never took long, but, when they were, it was usually because he had an answer and just didn't want to tell anyone what he thought, for fear of there being a better option, or, even worse, that someone would get hurt because of what he thought. Crystal seemed to understand what I was thinking.

"Let's get some lunch," she suggested, leading the way to the kitchen. "I'm starving."

"I second that motion," Odd said, right behind her. Everyone followed Crystal to the kitchen, but I grabbed Jeremie's bicep as he passed.

"Come on, spit it out, Jeremie."

"What?"

"What are you thinking about?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You always have a plan. I can see the look on your face. You're the most paranoid person around, you have to have some kind of plan." Jeremie looked at me for several seconds, then to the kitchen.

"I think it's best… if I take Aelita somewhere safe."

"Are you out of your damn mind?"

"Alex, don't get too caught up."

"You're crazy if you think I'm letting you take her away from me."

"I'm not saying that. You should come with us, you and Crystal, at least until everything gets sorted out."

"And what about the others?" My voice rose slightly, which caused Jeremie to instinctively check the kitchen to make sure no one heard, then he grabbed me by the arm and led me down the hall so we couldn't be heard.

"Don't you think it's a bad idea to be in the same place at the same time with someone after us?"

"We don't know if anyone is after us right now."

"And what happens if there is someone after us!? Today, tomorrow, if one of us gets, whatever – shot, kidnapped, murdered, raped – do you want it to be Crystal?"

"Of course I don't. Don't do that. That's not fair, and you know it."

"Alex, we have to protect the ones we love."

"Yeah, we do, and you know who I love? Every single person in this house." Jeremie straightened his back, ready for what I was going to say. "There's no way I'm going to let anything happen in this house to anyone. You know that, don't you?"

"Alex, listen-"

"No, you listen to me. I'm going to protect you, and Aelita, and Crystal, and Ulrich, and Peter, and everyone else, do you understand? I can't do that from your vacation house in Tahiti. Alright? The only place I can keep everyone safe is in this house. Brick throwing isn't anything. Are you prepared for what could happen the second you go out that door?" Jeremie avoided my eyes. "Even if I go with you, we're essentially dooming the others, you get that right?" I paused. Jeremie didn't respond. "We're staying together. No matter what."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **AN: Sorry for not writing in so long. I'm in college now, so time is tough. Please leave reviews. Nothing in the world means as much as someone telling me what they think about my writing. Thanks.**

 **(Alex first person)**

Jeremie had become stressed. It was obvious to the point where I believed he no longer wanted to try to hide it, but no one else seemed to notice. He sat a little closer to the edge of his seat, ate dinner a little bit slower, and held Aelita just a little bit closer. Not that he, at that time, had a reason to. There was no reason to think that whatever was going on couldn't simply be fixed or that it would change our daily lives in any way.

The next morning, it was up to Crystal and me to make breakfast. We woke up around 8 and walked to the kitchen.

"Crystal?" I said.

"Yeah?"

I had to admit, at least to myself, that I was worried about Crystal and Aelita both in the same way I'm sure Jeremie was about Aelita. There was no evidence of turmoil, but the thought of potential turmoil scared me for her and this family we had developed.

"Jeremie's really worried about the attacks yesterday."

I called them attacks? Almost as if I was back in Kadic Academy and we were fighting XANA.

"Yeah, I suppose everyone is," she said, sweetly as ever. She turned and looked at me.

She was so mature now. Then. It was as early as possible, and yet her natural beauty seemed so much more magnified. Her hair was a mess, though she didn't seem to mind. I certainly didn't. The movements of her hands as they prepared breakfast we so smooth and elegant. Her smile was perfect and her eyes still as beautiful as the day I met her.

I suppose everyone was more mature, though. Even Odd, who now fashioned his hair less obscenely as he had a job to keep. They were hardly recognizable in this state, when compared to six or seven years ago.

"And you?" I responded.

"Hmm…" she said trailing off.

"Hm?" I asked.

"Well, I think it'll be alright. With as much presence as we have here, it was probably just some pranksters or kids or something."

"No one could've thrown that brick. Not as fast as that. It would've required some kind of tool or machinery."

"Then why don't you just tell me what you think, since we both know that's why you brought it up in the first place." She smiled jokingly, yet still sweetly.

I paused for a second. "Jeremie thinks that-"

"I didn't ask what Jeremie thinks. What do you think?"

I paused again. "I think I just want to keep everyone safe." She smiled at me.

"Then keep us safe." She kissed me gingerly on the cheek. I hugged her tightly for a minute or so. She didn't try to budge. She knew why I needed her this close. "It'll be okay," she said reassuringly.

I believed her, or at least, didn't want to not believe her.

We finished making breakfast, ate, had our meeting. Odd suggested Lyoko, but we looked at each other, afraid that being virtualized might cause us to miss something in the real world, and decided against it.

And what now? Lyoko was like nicotine; we needed it so often, and without it was like a harsh taste on the tip of our tongues. So we just kinda dispersed. Ulrich and Odd played video games in the lounge room while Yumi and Sam sat nearby. William and Peter played pool. Jeremie and Aelita insisted Crystal and I join them to watch television.

"I'll be right back," I said about an hour through. I walked into the kitchen then teleported to the roof of the house. I sat on the peak and overlooked the city. It was approaching midday, the sun nearing the highest point in the sky.

I remembered the brick, and tried lining up the trajectory of my car with the window to see where the brick thrower could have originated, the center of the road directly ahead, which didn't seem to help reach any conclusion any faster.

While thinking this over, something, someone grabbed me by the throat with their arm and placed a piece of metal to the back of my head that smelled heavily of gunpowder.

"Quiet, Alex, don't move," the person said, clearly male. Their body was soaking wet. I would have teleported behind him if I could, but with him grabbing me, there was a chance it could rip one or both of us in half.

"You're the one throwing the bricks, aren't you?"

"Quiet," he repeated. He stayed silent for a moment. "I need you to get something for me."

"Why should I trust you?" I asked. "You do have a gun pointed at my head, after all."

"I know if I didn't have this here, you'd kick my ass. Now listen. I need you to run code for me." The man placed a thick, plastic, sealed envelope on the roof next to me. "I don't have access to a computer, or I'd do it myself. Return the results to the train station, security box 167, do you understand?"

"What does the code do?"

"I'm sure I don't have to explain that to you. Run the code, don't tell the others, print the results, bring them to the train station, got it?" I put my hands up, then slowly picked up the envelope and slid out a packet of papers and a small key. Each paper was hand written, about eight pages in total. Most of it was mathematical code, and it didn't seem like it would have a clear output, or even a clear input. It definitely didn't seem harmful to whatever computer it ran on. It almost seemed like he just wrote a lot of math problems he didn't want to finish.

"Let's play this out," I say. "Suppose I promise to do this for you, then I just don't. What are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing. It's your choice." He let go of my neck and dashed down the side of the roof. He wore a mask and a wetsuit. I teleported in front of him, ready to grab him, but he slid down the roof between my legs and into the river below.

I pounded my fist on the roof, then teleported to my bedroom and paced back and forth. I shoved the papers and key into my nightstand and sat on the bed, trying to figure out what to do.

I couldn't tell Jeremie, not now. That'd be all he needs to decide to leave. Aelita would surely tell him if I told her, and they'd both be gone. I'm sure Crystal would be supportive of my decision, but I couldn't take the chance of scaring her over this. A few of the others, Ulrich, William, Peter, they might be useful for helping calm down about everything that happened, but none of them would try to offer insight about how to handle the situation, not like Jeremie, at least.

There was something about this person's promise, that if I didn't help him, he wouldn't try and retaliate. This person must have also been immune to the return to the past, assuming, at least, that he was the brick thrower. I tried thinking of what kind of person could have the resources for whatever tool he used to shoot the bricks at our house, yet not have access to a computer. It still worried me to think that this person could be against us, and whatever program he had just given me could have something hidden in it. I pulled it out and searched through it again, but couldn't seem to find any clear identifiers of malicious code. I put the papers back into my nightstand and went back to the living room.

I sat and put my arm around Crystal and pulled her close. There's no way I could promise to protect her. I couldn't even protect myself. If that person didn't want something from me, he'd have just put a bullet through my head, then and there, and I could have done nothing to save them.

Should I have fought him? Maybe I'd have felt better about protecting everyone. Could I trust that he'd really not come back for me if I didn't help him? Would fighting him have helped? Perhaps he's not alone. If I had fought him, perhaps it'd have just been someone else to come for me or the others. Maybe when he said he wouldn't do anything, he was implying it would be someone else.

The day went on and night came. I lay next to her and waited for her to fall asleep before getting up and taking the folder to the control room. I sat down in the seat in front of the computer and sat the folder on the armrest, unsure of what I was about to do, but too afraid of what might happen if I didn't.

I began typing the handwritten notes, character by character, confused as to why anyone would want this code written. About two hours later, I finished, compiled, and ran the code. A dialogue box appeared.

 _Run? (y/n)_ I pressed 'y' and a new line appeared.

 _Password?_ I squinted at the screen and sorted back through the papers, looking for whichever line had asked for a password, but couldn't find one.

I was nervous at this point. There were two options at this point, neither one particularly appealing. The first, more technical answer, was that the mathematical equations here had created an output, written in ASCII code and output as a character string. The second, is that the code was now linked to some other program, perhaps on the computer, but possibly connected to some other computer on the internet. I closed the program out, uncomfortable with the idea of leaving it open.

Another dialogue box opened, no later than the first closed, with just one line in it.

 _Password?_ I was scared, but there was nothing I could do. Before I could think of what to do, the window blinked and next to the prompt was the word 'Hasdrubal' and the program continued. Line after line of values, pairs of hexadecimal numbers, filled the screen at such a rate I could hardly tell them apart from just a white blur across the screen. After nearly a full minute, the program stopped and placed a document file on the desktop. I hesitated for a moment, then opened the document, in which was a copy of the thousands of hexadecimal values.

I couldn't give this to him, not without know what was in this. There was no telling what kind of information was stored here. I printed the word documents, totaling four pages full of pairs of hexadecimal values, and took them upstairs to the dining room table, spreading them out to get a better look at them, but keeping them in order.

Then I sat at the table looking at them, perhaps for an hour, not sure which step to take. I contemplated associating the values with characters of the alphabet, but there were some greater than fifty-two, meaning there were special characters and possibly numbers involved, and without knowing the decryption string, the order of characters starting from the beginning to end, I couldn't know what the value of one was supposed to align with. For example, the value of one could either be associated with a capital 'A', a lowercase 'a', or the number one, or even any value at all supposing the associated values aren't in any particular order. I tried thinking of algorithms upon algorithms to turn these values into something meaningful, but without the decryption string, the best I could do was convert them from hexadecimal into decimal numbers, a waste of time.

I put my hands on my face, leaning over the table. I couldn't do anything about my situation. If I didn't give him this code, someone I loved could be hurt, or, supposing he kept his promise, hoping to God he kept his promise, and no one was hurt, perhaps he'd just resort to more brick throwing, and more terror would just make Jeremie one step closer to leaving with Aelita, and he was already too close to that edge.

I cried quietly. There was no protection for this house, not from me. Giving him whatever was in these pieces of paper could just as easily lead to the same conclusion as not doing so. There were no guarantees and everything was a gamble.


End file.
